University Autonomy in Indonesia a conditio sine qua non

University Autonomy in Indonesiaa conditio sine qua non

Chan BasaruddinUniversity of Indonesia

Talking heads

• Brief profile of Indonesian HE sector• Drives for autonomy• Autonomy initiatives• Lessons learned• Concluding remarks

YEAR 1995 2000 2008

 PUBLIC

Universities 31 41 48Institutes 15 4 6Polytechnics 26 25 26School of HL (ST)

4 6 2

Total 76 76 82PRIVATE

Universities 251 303 403Institutes 47 43 46Polytechnics 8 29 127Academy 396 532 1028School of HL (ST)

526 842 1263

Total 1228 1749 2865Grand Total 1304 1825 2947

NUMBER OF INSTITUTIONS

Year 1995 2000 2008

Public institutions 853,242 818,772 978,739

Private institutions 1,450,162 1,681,175 2,392,417

Islamic & occupational institutions

373,387 420,000 553,000

Total enrolment 2,676,791 2,919,947 3,924,156

Population (19-24 age) 22,800,000 23,800,000 25,350,000

Gross Enrolment Rate 11.7% 12.3% 15.5%

ENROLMENT

Drives for autonomy

Existing : Public • Universities are agencies of the

MOE• Senior staff appointed by MOE• MOE is involved in management• Expenditure is controlled from

the Ministry of Finance• Public sector rules apply• Staff are civil servantsPrivate• Everything above but by

Foundation

Expected• Universities are autonomous

bodies• They define their own strategic

plans• They can appoint their own

staff• Free to generate and retain

income from all sources• Reporting on KPIs to MOE

Drives for AutonomyExisting• Detailed budgets agreed with

MOE• Line item control over budget• Surrender of any under-

spending• Surrender of any income

generated• Inability to manage assets or to

borrow money externally

Expected• Block grants agreed• No detailed controls over sub

heads• Earnings can be retained• Under-spending retained• Freedom to switch or sell assets

and borrow funds• Accountability for overall

budget and performance.

Initiatives to autonomy

• Government Decree No 61/1998– Public Universities can be converted to become a

state-owned legal entity (abbreviated as BHMN)

• Governance– Board of Trustees: the highest body

• Supported by Board of Auditors

– Academic Senate: the highest normative body on academic matters

– Rector: as the Chief-Executive Officer

Board of Trustees

• Represents the interest of the government, society and internal stakeholders– Number of external members should be greater

that internal ones

• Main tasks include:– Appoint and discharge university leadership– Approve budget and set general policy– Ensure that the university is financially healthy

External accountability

No BHMN Size of BoT % External

1 U. Indonesia 21 33%

2 U. Gadjah Mada 22 41%

3 Inst. Teknologi Bandung 20 40%

4 Inst. Pertanian Bogor 21 48%

5 U. Sumatra Utara 21 57%

6 U. Pend. Indonesia 20 55%

7 U. Airlangga 17 41%

Academic Senate

• Represent the interest of academic community and academic disciplines– Professors and teaching staff are represented– The same true for each discipline

• Main tasks include– Establish academic norms, ethics and values– Advise Rector on academic matters– Provide inputs to BoT on Rector performance

Education Legal Entity Law

• To establish a stronger legal basis for BHMN• Mandated by the Education Law enacted in

2003– All education institutions regardless of level and

type should be established as legal entity

• Expected to support the implementation of a full-fledge autonomy

Existing set up of Public and Private UniversitiesExisting set up of Public and Private Universities

Public Universities Private Universities

Legal entity: the stateLegal entity: the state Legal entity: Legal entity: FoundationFoundation

Parts of the GovernmentNo autonomy

Part of the FoundationNo Autonomy

Education Legal Entity LawEducation Legal Entity Law

Public Universities are parts the government

Perguruan Tinggiyang diselenggarakan

Masyarakat

State is theState is theLegal entityLegal entity

Badan HukumBadan HukumYayasan, dllYayasan, dll

State owned legalentity

The existing FoundationThe existing Foundationwill be legalizedwill be legalized

As As the Education Legal the Education Legal

EntityEntity

Adjustment ongovernance

State of University Autonomy in Select Countries After Undertaking Tertiary Sector Reform

Country Own Buildings and

Equipment

Borrow Funds

Spend Budgets to Achieve Objectives

Set Academic Structure and

Courses

Employ and Dismiss Staff

Set Salaries

Indonesia ≡ ≡ ≡ ↑ ≡ ≡Japan ↑ ↑ ↑ ⌂ ⌂ ↑

Pakistan ≡ ⌂ ≡ ≡ ≡Thailand ≡ ≡ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑

↑ Autonomy increased⌂ Some autonomy predates reform≡ No change in autonomySource: World Bank.

Lessons learned• The initiative is still pretty much within the MoE

– Lack of support from MoF, MoP, MoSA• Lack of legal basis to support its implementation

– Major hurdles comes from staff conversion and block grant

• Fee increase is negative campaign for autonomy– Students and society perceive autonomy as

privatization• Inconsistency of government policies makes it

even more difficult to stay on course• Internal contention amongst three main organs

– Swing from the extreme side of pendulum

Concluding Remarks

• Due to the size and scale of the sector, autonomy is a must– Even the most competence wouldn’t be able to

centrally manage the sector• Should be comprehensive and concerted

efforts– It’s an up hill battle; endurance is critical

• Policy consistency– mixed signals can easily be misleading

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes

- Mahatma Gandhi -

Thank you